Warhammer: Filial Piety Makes Power

Chapter 216 I, Mordred, never lie.

As one of the world's major powers, the Roman Empire expanded continuously with its powerful military, extending its borders to the entire Mediterranean Sea and further north to Gaul and Britain.

Although cultural customs differ, the fundamental principles remain the same. Just as the Han Chinese next door would prioritize recruits from respectable families, the Roman Empire also had professional soldiers.

As the name suggests, professional soldiers are soldiers who have signed contracts with the Empire and are specifically used for military operations.

Considering the era, this was an extremely advanced system, and it was through this system that the Roman Empire possessed its formidable military strength and was able to conquer such a vast territory.

Don't assume that ancient wars involved hundreds of thousands of troops clashing against each other, or that the plots in TV dramas, such as a prince with 50 heavily armored cavalry vying for the emperor's affections and ultimately being forced to commit suicide by imperial decree, are true.

It’s impossible!
Putting aside whether that prince is mentally ill, 50 cavalry, heavily armored at that! You could have crushed the entire world and become the chieftain of the earth, yet you still obey imperial edicts.

Even if we assume the prince is absolutely loyal, for the emperor to issue an imperial edict to a prince with such terrifying military power, unless he has some kind of magnetic field ability, he must be out of his mind.

Even if we take a step back and consider the backwardness of ancient times, let alone 500,000 heavily armored cavalry, just 50,000 half-armored cavalry would be enough to contend for the Central Plains and proclaim that they were ordained by Heaven and would live a long and prosperous life!
The truth is that these so-called million-strong armies are largely fabricated. If you cut them in half, at least half of the remaining half would be conscripted soldiers who were used as cannon fodder.

These cannon fodder might not even have proper weapons, let alone luxury items like armor; at best, they might have a spear.

Before being struck by a meteor into this cesspool, Mordred had witnessed this phenomenon in the Slavic region.

There's nothing new in history; those conscripted cannon fodder never had time for proper training. They were simply dressed in green camouflage, given an AK, and sent to the front lines. (Seriously! They didn't even receive the most basic five months of training; some only got two weeks.)
It was thanks to these professional soldiers that the Roman Empire, possessing one of the strongest military forces of its time, amassed such a vast territory and accumulated a great deal of wealth.

The way Mordred and Horus devised to make money was based on this.

Three days have passed since Makala adopted the dog as her father, and during these three days, the people of Us have seen a woman parading around with two dogs.

Even more amazingly, these two dogs can actually speak human language. The one with the longer legs is named Romus, and the one with the shorter legs is named Remus.

In this era of entertainment scarcity, boasting has become the most popular form of entertainment. The appearance of Mordred and Horus instantly attracted countless onlookers and generated all sorts of rumors.

The most famous of them all is the story of the Roman She-Wolf!

According to rumors, these two magical creatures, though they look like dogs, are actually two wolves abandoned by their mother (Ilda?) at birth.

When they were on the verge of starvation, they met a woman named Makara. Kind-hearted Makara couldn't bear to see them die, so she gave them her last food—five salted fish and two flatbreads.

It was thanks to the power of these five fish and two cakes that the brothers Romus and Remus were saved. To repay this kind lady, the two wolves recognized Malaca as their mother, and this is the so-called Roman she-wolf!

Unexpectedly, even wild beasts possess the instinct to repay their parents' kindness. The gods who witnessed this scene shed tears, channeling their supreme divine power to enlighten the wolves with two drops of their tears, bestowing upon them extraordinary wisdom, enabling them to speak human language and comprehend life and death.

On the bustling street, all sorts of people stopped to watch—nobles, scholars, soldiers, slaves—representing every profession, all attentively listening to the explanation given by the wolf named Remus.
"Master, do you think there's any hope for my illness?"

“It can’t be cured. As far as I can tell, you should be a nobleman from a wealthy family, but you are pale and sweating profusely.”

For someone your age, this shouldn't be the case. If you're not in a bad situation, have you been feeling weak and lethargic lately, even breaking out in a cold sweat with the slightest exertion? You're cursed, and your days are numbered.

"Nonsense! How could that be!" The noble youth, who had been diagnosed with a death sentence, vehemently denied it. No one would feel good if they were cursed to be dying.

Mordred knew this would happen, so she jumped onto Horus, looking down at the stubborn kid:

"Since you don't believe me, why don't you take a few steps and see if you feel dizzy or lightheaded?"

Without hesitation, Flavius ​​Constantine, concerned for his reputation, abruptly stood up, determined to prove himself. But before he could even regain his balance, he collapsed onto his backside, leaving everyone astonished!
Nonsense. With Mordred's build, which is about the same height as a beer bottle when he's lying down, anyone who wants to talk to him has to squat down. Plus, after being exposed to the sun all day, this noble boy, who has been indulging in a life of pleasure and debauchery for years, collapsed from insufficient blood supply to his brain.

As the saying goes, it's better to believe it exists than not to believe it doesn't. Even though everyone knows that you'll feel dizzy when you stand up after squatting for a long time, what can you do when these two dogs in front of you can talk?

Even in the future, there will be no shortage of extraordinary people who, after a quick search on Baidu, believe they have some incurable disease.

"Master, save me! I'm still young, the only son in my family, and I want to wait for my father to die so I can inherit the family fortune!"

"Sigh~" Mordred stood up, stretched out his paw to stroke Constantine's head, and a look of compassion for a celestial being appeared on his dog face:
"Kid, you must have done something that angers both heaven and man, otherwise why would anyone want to harm you? Think about it carefully."

"..."

Constantine was a bit stunned. It wasn't that he couldn't think of anything, but rather that he couldn't distinguish which bad thing it was. If he included things like kicking down a widow's door in the middle of the night, he could talk about it all day long.

Seeing this, Horus opened his eyes slightly, picked up Mordred and was about to leave, muttering something to himself: "Good deeds will be rewarded, and evil deeds will be punished. Let's not bother with this sinner."

But Constantine wasn't about to let Mordred leave so easily; he pounced on him and clung to Horus's leg.
"Master... I really don't want to die!"

At this moment, Makala, who had been waiting for a long time, stepped forward and hugged her two dog sons, looking weak, pitiful and helpless.

It was still a weasel after all, and its pitiful appearance aroused the crowd's indignation. They cursed the nobles for being shameless and bullying an orphan and widow.

Some people even went so far as to shout the groundbreaking slogan, "A dog's life matters too!" It just goes to show that Rome truly surpasses all others, leading the pack by at least 2000 years.

"Master, I will do anything as long as you can save me."

"Oh, really? You'd even give me your soul?"

"Ah this!"

The young man with kidney deficiency hesitated, but these words made him even more convinced that he had met a hermit master who wanted to trade his soul right away, so it must be genuine.

"Just kidding. After all, I'm not some kind of demon. What use would I have for your soul? But everything comes at a price."

In this world, only death is truly fair. If you want to defy fate, you must pay a price to atone for your sins.

Despite it being a bright, sunny day, emerald green lightning suddenly flashed all around, and the grains of sand beneath Constantine's feet floated into the air, condensing into a jet-black crystal, which Mordred caught in her dog paws.

Coupled with Mordred's sinister words, this miraculous scene sent chills down everyone's spines. The young nobleman even cried out, wanting to buy back his sins.

Horus placed a scale on the ground, and under everyone's gaze, Mordred placed a crystal on one side of the scale, while a pure white feather was placed on the other side.

……

In the dead of night, in that same mud-brick house, watching the unfortunate little fellow fiddling with a bag of gold coins, Mordred's voice rang in Makara's ear:

"Don't count it, I'll keep it for you first, and give it to you when you grow up. Anyway, you can't save money."

Makara thought about it and agreed, but still asked, "You're not lying to me, are you?"
"How could that be? I, Remus, never lie!"

(End of this chapter)